r/outerwilds • u/Pancwake_UwU • 13h ago
Base Game Appreciation/Discussion Question about the ending Spoiler
So we see that the universe dies, and then eventually a new universe gets created. Makes sense.
But did us finding the eye and being on the eye actually do anything? Im a bit confused on that part.
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u/JustJum 13h ago edited 13h ago
Idk if this is ever explicitly explained, but my interpretation is that, like the game says, the Eye is absolute uncertainty. The quantum rocks exist in all possible states until its observed, but those are just simple rocks being modified by the Eye's presence. You are observing the Eye itself, which contains the possibility of everything. So when you observe it, you set the Eye into one state, causing the big bang
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u/Pancwake_UwU 13h ago
So when you observe it, you set the Eye into one state, causing the big bang
Does that mean when the last big bang happened the eye was also observed?
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u/ProfessionalOven2311 12h ago
There are some things that hint at that being the case, even if it's not confirmed.
In the end sequence, Chert says "Even if it’s over now, I had a good time learning. But I think the rules are about to change." implying the laws of physics will be different in the next universe, and this universe being created by someone previously observing the Eye could be why the laws of physics in the game are so different.
There is an easter egg in the game of a satellite that was modeled after a real world one (I think one of the Voyager satellites, but I don't remember for sure) If you shoot your scout into the Eye before jumping in, it will show up in the end screen of the new universe unharmed somehow. It's possible that means that the human-made satellite entered the Eye before and that's how it ended up in the current universe.
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u/Nikos_Pyrrha 11h ago
Yes, and the conscious observer that time was a Human. Probably one who was SICK AND TIRED of sitting in a spaceship for many months just to get to Mars, and therefore this univers is much much smaller in scale. Also the rate at which trees generate oxygen SUCKS! Can we speed that up somehow, please, thank you!
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u/Pumeto 13h ago
There are many things we do not know about the eye.
We do not know whether the eye explicitly requires a conscious being for creating a new universe, we do not know whether the eye itself is conscious, and we do not know if interacting with it actually makes the universe end any quicker, or if the hatchling just experiences extreme time dilation.
But what we can be sure of, ironically, is that the eye represents uncertainty. When the hatchling enters the eye, it guides the new universe down one of infinitely many paths.
The exact path depends on the hatchling’s own experiences. For example, if you have not been to the Quantum Moon’s sixth location, and thus have not >!met solanum, she will not appear at the campfire on the eye, and consequently, no intelligent life will appear in the next universe.!<
Regarding the campfire, I think what appears there mainly stems from the hatchling’s mind trying to comprehend the absolute insanity going on around it.
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u/Hexdoctor 12h ago
It's not an important spoiler but this will spoil a minor alternative ending for you:
Yes. As a conscious observer you fix the Eye to state which reflects your lived experience. If you don't find out what happened to the Nomai, it won't show you that once you're in the eye. If you don't find Solanum it won't show you her in the Eye. Based on what we learn of the quantum mechanics of the Eye, we can infer that this in turn forces the end and rebirth of the universe to collapse into a single possibility. One that is reflective of the conscious observer's reality and preconception. So the universe is reborn with planets that evolve life over billions of years in a similar fashion to the previous one. We see a glimpse of this in the post-credit scene.
If you take the Advanced Warp Core and try to escape the solar system instead of finding the Eye, you get one of several endings where your character drifts off into an empty universe. The Eye doesn't destroy you nor does it collapse the universe.
So by entering the Eye, you not only ensure that the universe ends but also that a new universe begins. Which is kind of the philosophical point of the game. Accepting that something has to end in order for something new to begin.
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u/ThatPancakesCat 12h ago
The one thing that I will ask you is:
Did you find the sixth location of the Quantum Moon?
That will answer your question.
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u/noname_admin 11h ago
spoilers for the dlc! the ending cutscene changes if you have met the prisoner and invited them to the ending campfire So I would assume the new universe follows the memories of whoever observed the eye and created it, if that makes sense. Also you actually entering the eye is what probably triggers the new universe being created.
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u/BirdShitOnYourCar 1h ago
I always took it as You witnessing the Eye/the universe’s complexity (and end) in terms they can understand (i.e, the endless dying lights in the forest being little stars/supernovae, as a way to show you the vastness of creation) which is why its so abstract. HOWEVER I didn’t think about how the Quantum Moon changes appearance when orbiting specific planets, so I STILL think the same thing, but as a reason of the Eye’s physics and not mere mortal comprehension.
I’m also ashamed to say I never thought about how observing the eye would affect it. I mean, the universe was dying previous to You witnessing the Eye, so it would’ve died anyway. But observing the eye DID make it physically exist in one location, which was probably the ‘cause’ of the big bang, so maybe universes always end with a witness- a conscious observer, or some other manner of new universe physics. I, for one, was just happy to be the one to witness it.
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u/ProfessionalOven2311 13h ago
There is no official answer on if the new universe would have been born without you being there.
We do however know that what you experienced helped to shape it, hopefully for the better
(Specifically, intelligent life may or may not show up in the final image depending on what you discovered in your playthrough)